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I attended the annual Rhode Island Comic Con this past weekend and had a really good time. This particular lineup was chock full of big name celebrities that I didn't have yet and although many celebrities cancelled their appearances at this con there were only a few of those that I actually needed so it was still a fantastic lineup despite the cancellations. My top name for the show was actor Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) but there were a bunch of other solid names that I also got that definitely made this con worthwhile. Other fantastic names included Dolph Lundgren, Andy Serkis, Paul Bettany, Tom Wilson (Biff from Back to the Future) and lots more. I took the Greyhound bus as my transportation and it was very reasonably priced.

I arrived in Providence around 3 pm (it was supposed to drop me in Providence at 2:30 so it was only half an hour late). My first photo op was Paul Reubens at 5:20 pm and my second was Andy Serkis at 6 pm. I went to the Celeb Photo Ops table in the Dunkin Donuts Center and they scanned my pre ordered photo op tickets in exchange for the official photo op hard tickets. I don't understand their methods because other photo op companies like Epic photo Ops allow you to just scan the barcode on the E-ticket or printout and skip this unnecessary step. This was a very long line to stand in unfortunately but I had no choice. They told me I had to redeem my Andy Serkis photo op upstairs at Will Call because it was purchased online through Celebrity Authentics. I went upstairs and they had no idea what I was talking about. After talking to a bunch of people I found out that I needed to go to the Autograph Sales booth in the Dunkin Donuts Center to pick up my envelope containing my Serkis photo op ticket. Wow that was unnecessarily confusing. I really hope they don't do that again next year.

The pro ops were now being held in an outdoor tent that unfortunately was pretty cold on Friday. By Saturday they got some warmers so it was cool but not freezing like it was on Friday night. This was still a better alternative than the way they handled the pro ops in the past by trying to cram everybody into small spaces. Once I was situated I got in line to get my pro op with Paul Reubens and I was pretty excited because he was my top name for the whole con. Pretty cool to have my most important name be the first name I get at the con. Paul looked very much like Pee Wee still in the face but he wasn't wearing his signature grey suit and red bow tie but I was still very excited to score this pic. I had tried several time on the street in the past but was unsuccessful. Paul made the same face in every photo but it fit his character so I was ok with this. The photo came out great. Next I got in line to meet Andy Serkis who was another huge want of mine because he was Gollum in Lord the Rings, Caesar in the new Planet of the Apes movies, Snoke in the new Star Wars movies and hes in the upcoming Black Panther movie. Hes pretty much in all of my favorite stuff and he is an amazing and versatile actor so this was another top want of mine. The photo came out great and I am super happy that I finally got to meet him.

I found out that Tom Wilson (Biff from Back to the Future) was in attendance on Friday (thought the website said Saturday and Sunday only). I went to his table and asked the Rhode Island Comic Con employee near where his line started if he was doing table ops and unfortunately she said no. I was puzzled by this because I had heard that Tom had done table ops at many other conventions he had done in the past. Tom was a huge name for me because Back to the Future is my favorite movie and he is the last main castmember that I didn't have a photo with yet. Because the lady said pro only I went ahead and bought a pro op for Wilson for $75 plus $10 digital copy. I simply couldn't leave this con without getting him, he was one of my top names. I found out later when I showed up for my Tom pro op that his handler didn't tell him he had a pro op to go to and brought him back to the hotel so the Friday pro op was cancelled. This turned out to be a good thing for me because I found out on Saturday that he was indeed doing table ops and I was able to score one for $50 and exchange the Wilson pro op for someone else. After I got my Serkis pro op I went to the convention center to get other names.

The first name I got at the convention center was actor Joonas Suotamo who plays Chewbacca in the new Star Wars movies. He was reasonably priced at $25 for a table op. I spoke to him about the new Star Wars movies and told him how much I have enjoyed them so far. I asked him if he does Chewie's voice in addition to portraying him in the suit. He said its a mix of his voice and animal noises. He then did a Chewie voice for me and did a helluva great job. I'm excited to see him in more Star Wars movies.. really nice guy.

Next I got a photo with actor John Ashton (Beverly Hills Cop) who was a bit overpriced at $40 for a table op. I ended up seeing him at another spot later so I was kicking myself for paying for it but I guess a guarantee is a guarantee. John was a really friendly guy and glad I got to meet him. Next I met actress Jade Wu (Luke Cage) and got a table op with her. She had some tasty free Asian candy on her table that I took a couple pieces of. Next I got a free photo with the Nostalgia Critic Doug Walker and his brother Rob Walker. My little brother introduced me to his youtube show and I really enjoy it. I told him that my favorite shows of his so far were his review of The Room and The Wizard. After this I met actress Hilary Shepard who played Divatox in the TV show and movie Power Rangers Turbo. I got a photo op with her which turned out pretty cool because she had a couple props for our photo. After this I met and a got a photo with actor Michael Copon who played the blue ranger in Power Rangers Time Force. He was a really cool guy.. we chatted for a bit about movies. He wants to play a DC Comics or Marvel superhero if he gets the chance.

I found out that Power Rangers actor Selwyn Ward who was scheduled to appear unfortunately cancelled. Oh well.. hope he does a future con that I'm at. Before I left the con I got a photo with actress Brittany Daniel (Joe Dirt) for only $20. She was very friendly and she still looks absolutely amazing. After this me and my good friend Asian Dave went to another spot where we scored updated photo ops with Robert Englund, Andrew Cassese and Julia Montgomery. We saw Tom Wilson here. Someone else asked him for a photo but he politely refused saying he had to do them at the con. At least he was cool and shook our hands. I didn't score much at this spot because I already had most of the celebs that I saw and many refused saying they weren't allowed to. It wasn't a waste of time.. I got to hang out with good friends Asian Dave and my new buddy Francesco. Around 11 pm we (me, Asian Dave, Francesco and his girlfriend) decided to leave and grab some dinner at a Chicago style pizzeria. After this it was very late and quite cold out so we went to the hotel to get some much needed sleep.

We woke up around 9ish on Saturday and grabbed some McDonalds quickly before heading back to the convention. The line to the get in the convention was wrapped around the convention center. I was very thankful to have a vendors pass for this convention because it allowed us to skip the line and go in a special vendors entrance where we didn't have to deal with the crowds.

When I arrived at the con I started by knocking out names who were Saturday and Sunday only at the convention center since I didn't have a chance to meet them Friday night. I got a photo with actress Sadie Sink (TVs Stranger Things). She is in season 2 of Stranger Things.. I have just started watching the second season and love it so far. Stranger Things is currently my favorite show on TV. I love the 80s vibe and the characters and storytelling are amazing. I saw that actors Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin were also in attendance but I got to meet them at Monster Mania in Cherry Hill so luckily I didn't have to stand in their long lines. Next I got a photo op with actress Simone Missick (TVs Luke Cage and The Defenders) who was very friendly. I also got a photo with actress CCH Pounder (NCIS New Orleans, Avatar) who was very friendly and reasonably priced at only $20 for a table op.

At this point I decided to try to get my Masters of the Universe 11 by 17 poster signed by Dolph for $55. I didn't get too many autographs at this con but decided this one was important because I already had 5 other signatures on the poster (Frank Langella, Courtney Cox, Robert Duncan McNeill, Meg Foster and James Tolkan) so I might as well score the main star. It took me a long time to score the Dolph Lundgren autograph because his line was very long despite the fact that I got VIP status for having a vendors badge. He took breaks often and didn't seem to stay at his table for too long at a stretch. The line was stopped for Dolph's lunch break and his photo op so they gave us numbers on post it notes and asked us to come back later. Next I went to get my photo with actor Dolph Lundgren who was also one of my top wants at the convention. I mostly love Dolph from his roles as He Man in the live action 80s classic Masters of the Universe and as the evil Ivan Drago in Rocky 4 (boxer who killed Apollo Creed). The photo came out great but he oddly didn't put his arm around me when I put my arm around him.. not a huge deal since he gave me a great smile in the pic. I saw in others pics he gave the other person a fist bump or handshake but I guess he didn't with me since I put my arm around him. I made sure to wear my Masters of the Universe t-shirt for this photo op since he played He-Man. Unfortunately I don't own any MOTU movie t-shirts so I wore one for the TV show instead (close enough I suppose).

Next I got my pro op with actor Paul Bettany (The Vision in the Avengers films). I was a bit alarmed when I saw he was wearing shades in the photo op but at least they were the kind that you could still see his eyes. Since I was paying top dollar for this pic I decided to ask him if he could remove his shades for the photo but he politely refused stating that he didn't want to hurt his eyes. I've seen plenty of non shades photo ops with him on the street but I guess he wanted to leave them on here since he was taking so many photos in a row. At this point I had found out that Tom Wilson was doing table ops so I went ahead and put on my Back to the Future t-shirt for my Tom Wilson table op. He was very friendly and engaged me in conversation for a couple minutes. I told him that he was the last main cast member of Back to the Future that I needed a photo with and that I enjoy his comedy. I told him that I enjoy the "Question song" a lot and that I've watched it on youtube many times. I asked him if he was planning to take his comedy act to anywhere close to where I live but he didn't know for sure. It seems like he doesn't do as many comedy shows these days and has become more of a regular on the convention circuit.

At this point I went back to the Dolph Lundgren autograph line and reclaimed my spot and got him to sign my poster. I had him sign in the top right corner of the poster and I am pretty pleased with the results. After this I went back to the convention center.. I was thinking about upgrading my photo with Justin Roiland but his line was capped for the day so unfortunately I wouldn't get that opportunity. I decided to meet actor Curtis Armstrong again because he had his new book for sale and I wanted to read it so if I bought it from him it included a signature and a photo op so I figured no time like the present. After this I went back to the Dunkin Donuts Center for my last two pro ops of the day.. Mike Colter and WWE wrestler Rey Mysterio. Both photos came out great and I was done with the convention at 6:20 pm. Asian Dave saw me in the pro op room and helped me out by going to grab my winter coat from my vendor buddies table since he knew I had to leave soon and needed to save time. Asian Dave is a really awesome and considerate guy and I feel very lucky to call him my friend. At this point I said goodbye to Dave and met up with my friends James, Jimmy and Suzanne and we headed back to New York City where I was going to catch my bus back to Baltimore.

We stopped off to eat dinner at a local Cracker Barrel and had a great time hanging out. I can't wait to hang out with them some more next month when I got to Long Island for Ace Comic Con. I got to NYC with plenty of time to catch my 1 am bus back to Baltimore but unfortunately my bus arrived very late.. it was a bit after 3 am when my bus finally arrived (heard the driver got sick or something) but at least it came eventually and I got to wait inside a warm bus station instead of being stuck outside in the cold. The Greyhound buses are usually more reliable but maybe it wasn't as good this weekend because it was a holiday weekend.. who knows. The important thing is they were running more smooth on Friday because I had to make it to the con to get my photo ops and I took Sunday off from work to rest after the convention so it didn't make as much of a difference that I got back a little later. I've gotta add it was really great seeing many marked out board members and other good friends and getting to hang out and talk to you guys... Asian Dave (who I mentioned earlier), Mike (overthetop), Dan (DJKnightrida), Greg and Lanza. Dana (Woodmo) attended on Sunday so unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see him at the show. Overall I had a great time at the con and got a lot of great names despite the cancellations. This con consistantly brings fantastic celebs that don't do a lot of other cons so it is one of my favorite cons to attend.. can't wait to see who they bring next year.

good stuff. I just got to know for research purposes, and you can tell me off-line and not on here, how much $$$ did you spend on this show not including travel and food? I was tempted to go down to this show as the list was great, but per what I see, pricing was insane, and you know my feelings on paying for photos.

Pricing was atrocious. Hilary Shepherd, really a C-minus lister, $30 photo! Nerds were $25 for graph, free photo. The headline guests like Wilson/Weathers/Dolph were priced at least for their former stardom level. idk what Jerry spent, but I spent a small fortune, and that included shared photos with Lanza.